Abstract

The purpose of visual displays is to convey information to the user in a way that allows it it be assimilated as easily as possible. This paper reports a study which attempted to introduce knowledge implicitly via visual displays in a way that would allow learning to take place with relatively little effort. In order to create a more cognitively compatible interface, we capitalised upon what was known about the knowledge structures of domain experts. In doing so, we were able to provide appropriate cues to allow novices to change their cognitive structures more quickly to approximate to that of domain experts. Road traffic signs were chosen as the learning domain because their latent categorical structure and the need for many people to learn traffic signs as effectively and quickly as possible.